French right-wing MEP François-Xavier Bellamy says he has been targeted by hackers linked to China.
“I learned through an alert from the American Government that I had been targeted by a hacker operation close to the Chinese regime,” he said.
On May 6, Bellamy warned that “the future of our economies, but above all of our democracies, is threatened by Europe’s naivety” regarding the issue of foreign interference.
He publicly targeted Beijing during the current visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to France.
“During my term of office, I have constantly reminded people that Europe and France must stop being naive in the face of Beijing,” he said.
“Xi Jinping’s China challenges our democracies: we must have the courage for a strategic leap of faith,” he added.
On May 7, he called on French President Emanuel Macron “to raise this issue” of alleged Chinese interference with Xi.
The MEP also stated that what he alleged was an attempt at foreign interference was not new. “As we have seen in the European Parliament, there are States that try to interfere,” he said.
The European Parliament elections in June are at significant risk from Chinese online activists who already targeted the UK Parliament and its electoral register, cyber experts have told Brussels Signal.@ivana_karaskova | @MPIainDS https://t.co/RFzqu7gZCn
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 26, 2024
Bellamy announced that he would file an official complaint with the French police on May 7. “We must not remain silent and passive in the face of these attacks,” he urged.
China is not the sole foreign power implicated in alleged interference in European affairs. European Union officials have also accused Russia of trying to interfere in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.
On May 6, EU leaders vowed to retaliate after it was revealed that Russia-linked actors launched a cyber-attack against Germany’s ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) last year.
Cyber War? EU rages over alleged Russian cyber-attack on German’s ruling SPDhttps://t.co/YrLTy4fFnC
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 6, 2024
